Vile voice messages left for No campaigner Jacinta Price as she fights Indigenous Voice
Vile voice messages have been left for No campaigner Jacinta Price as she fights Indigenous Voice
Jacinta Price has vowed not to be bullied after revealing some of the racist hate messages she received during her fight against the Voice to Parliament.
The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians is leading the opposition’s no-vote campaign for the upcoming October 14 referendum.
But the role has made her a magnet for vicious personal attacks after she was targeted when her mobile phone number was leaked on social media.
In the days that followed, Senator Price said she was bombarded with shocking voicemails, some of which she played to 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday.
“Uncle Tom coconut,” said a message played on the air. ‘Hate your own people. Yes, you are a disgrace. You are an absolutely disgraceful, disgusting human being.”
The attack combined two vile insults used to describe black people who try to be subservient to whites, and those who are said to be brown on the outside but white on the inside.
“It’s an offensive racist term used against me and Warren Mundine,” she said.
Senator Jacinta Price has vowed not to be bullied after revealing some of the racist hate messages she has received during her campaign against Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
“We cannot simply be seen as human beings. People like to look at us in terms of color. And there’s just no room for that.’
Another voicemail message was laced with obscenities, abusing the senator for texting voters about the referendum.
“F*** off you **** Jacinta Price,” it said. “Don’t message me on my phone with your lying message. You’re a damn woman.’
“There are obviously worse than the reports that have come through,” Senator Price told Fordham.
“It’s just remarkable how people feel they have the right to be aggressive, insulting, disgusting and horrible.”
The senator’s cell phone number — which has since been replaced — was leaked by “a few individuals on Twitter and other platforms,” she said.
“I have their details, so they have been reported by the police.”
But she said she was not deterred by the abuse.
‘Not really. I will not be bullied,” she promised. ‘I’m here because there are people who have it worse than me.
“I have to be their voice because if I don’t, who will?”
The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians is leading the opposition’s no vote for the upcoming October 14 referendum
The role has made her a magnet for vicious personal attacks from Yes voters after she was targeted when her mobile phone number was leaked on social media.
She added: “I’ve had so many people insult me and treat me horribly over the years, and it doesn’t surprise me.
‘I know what people are capable of. I just think, you know, wake up to yourself.
“I have campaigned to improve the lives of our most vulnerable, who are silenced by violent perpetrators.
‘And I will not tolerate perpetrators who send me such messages… think about your own behavior and take care of your own backyard. That’s what I’m saying.’